If you start with this, you will end with this.
Simple dialectics always reveals this truth:
"Any gift of fate has been secretly marked with a price."
When Yuan Shao came to Runan in the first ten months of the month, his great cause began to take off. A very inconspicuous little person unknowingly moved Yuan Shao's horse.
He is Deng Dang who was supposed to die but survived by jumping into the Huai River.
Since he is not dead, his story will naturally continue. It's just a pity that Deng Dang is a small person after all and cannot shoulder the main body of historical narrative.
So, the camera turned to the so-called big shots and the so-called hot topics of the times.
……
The third year of the Republic, the sixth day of March. Jinan, Dongpingling.
In the wine shops in the city, there are constantly people like Rangers drinking wine and boasting about what they saw in Xishikou today.
They were all talking about one thing, that is, Jinan Prime Minister Cao Cao beheaded one by one the wealthy landowners of Licheng Dongxiang at Xishikou.
At this time, there was a ranger in the wine shop, who spoke like this:
"Xiang Cao killed well. I think those evil tyrants in Dongxiang should have died long ago. I don't know how many times I have heard that these people in Dongxiang are forcing them to sell their sons and daughters. The moth thieves can't be killed. They, on the other hand, are the wealthy ones who ruined their homes.”
When the ranger wanted to say more, a friend on the side had already pulled his hem with his hand and asked him to look around.
Sure enough, maybe after he said the word moth thief, some other people in the wine shop who were also dressed as rangers turned their eyes.
The ranger immediately knew that he had violated a taboo, and quickly changed the topic:
"Hey, this Prime Minister Cao is good at everything. When we come here, he first destroys the temple of prostitution and punishes the bad guys. Neither of them is very satisfying. The only drawback is that he has started to ban alcohol."
After saying that, the ranger drank the contents of the cup and hurried away with his friends.
The ranger led his friends around the area several times, and then suddenly jumped into a pit and held his breath without making a sound.
Sure enough, a few figures hurried past on the street above, the same figures who had just been in the wine shop.
Seeing that the few people walking away were all carrying long knives across their bodies, the ranger couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
The friend next to him couldn't help but said:
"Yuan Zhi, I'm not telling you, why can't you take care of your bad habit of making trouble with your talk? I am really destined to accompany you to Jinan all the way here with you."
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The man named Yuan Zhi, whose surname was Xu and named Fu, was from Changshe, Yingchuan.
He was originally a knight-errant in the Changshe area, and he was also a respectable figure in the local area. But three years ago, the Taishan Army went north and captured Changshe after the Battle of Yingyang.
Some of Xu Fu's companions thought that Taishan's army could succeed, so they surrendered after Taishan's army entered the city. Originally, they took Xu Fu with them, but Xu Fu hated that his little brothers praised the Taishan Army too much, and felt that his former majesty was offended. After criticizing the Taishan Army as nothing, he left.
Afterwards, the Han army counterattacked, and the Taishan army evacuated Changshe in a hurry. Most of his younger brothers were unwilling to leave their hometown, so they fled back to Changshe.
However, after the Han army entered the city, they did not block the four people. Instead, they began to investigate those who collaborated with the enemy during the bandit occupation. In this way, Xu Fu's township parties were betrayed and all beheaded by the Han army.
Xu Fu couldn't sit still now. He wanted to avenge his fellow villagers.
So, after half a year of preparation, he took his only remaining manpower to attack and kill the traitors who betrayed the township party, and wiped out one of their sects.
After committing such a big case, Xu Fu naturally had no choice but to escape from Changshe. He did not want to join the Taishan Army because he felt that the Taishan Army had a huge responsibility for the death of his fellow villagers.
So, Xu Fu and Shi Tao wandered around the lake and sea, working as guards for the caravan to earn some food while looking for opportunities.
Later, while accompanying a business trip, they heard about the deeds of Jinan Prime Minister Cao Cao from these businessmen.
They all said that this person was a meritocracy, and as long as he was talented, he would be reused, so they wanted to come to Jinan to try their luck.
Hearing Shi Tao's complaint, Xu Fu chuckled, spat at the rangers who missed it, and said:
"Nai Gong is afraid of them? Nai Gong holds the sword in his hand. Even ten people are not enough for me to kill. I am worried that their blood will splash on my straw sandals."
Shi Tao has become accustomed to Xu Fu's knight-errant temperament.
He and Xu Fu are actually people with completely different personalities. He is steady while Xu Fu is anxious. He is clever and clever, while Xu Fu is ruthless. But they are both the same type of people, that is, loyalty comes first.
Even though they knew that revenge for the villagers would put them in a desperate situation, they still had no hesitation.
Now, Shi Tao was thinking, and he said to Xu Fu:
"It seems that you said the word "moth and thief" to offend these people."
Xu Fu looked indifferent, he didn't understand and said:
"I scolded the moth thief, what does it have to do with them? As for using a knife to fight for my life? I have heard before that Qingzhou people are fierce and will draw their swords when they disagree. I think this statement is true."
Shi Tao glanced at Xu Fu:
"Yuan Zhi, you have to study hard, and no matter how bad you are, you have to think more. Do you know where this is? It's Jinan. Where do those Taishan bandits come from? They are from Jinan. How many people do you think the Taishan Army has? Are they from Jinan? How many people are there? Isn’t this family related to the Taishan thieves? Why don’t you scold the moth thieves in front of others?”
Xu Fu suddenly realized and smiled:
"Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Nai needs to study more. Didn't you see that we have changed our names? We just want to change our minds and abandon martial arts and become literary."
Shi Tao really believed what Xu Fu said and actually bowed to Xu Fu seriously:
"Yes, your name is Xu Shu, Xu Yuanzhi, no longer Xu Fu."
Then we heard our Xu Shu laughing non-stop.
Shi Tao was helpless, but he also reminded:
"You said that Cao Cao is an idea, but from now on, Cao Cao doesn't even control Dongpingling. Otherwise, why would there be so many rangers with Yellow Turbans wandering around?"
After hearing this, Xu Shu was stunned for a moment and felt that what Shi Tao said made sense.
So Xu Shu became anxious:
"What should we do? We spent all our money to come to Jinan. If we don't vote for Cao Cao, what will we do next?"
Shi Tao looked embarrassed and could only comfort Xu Shu:
"It's okay, let's go vote first and see if Cao Cao knows the goods."
In this way, the two of them reluctantly walked to Cao Cao's Juxian Hall in the West City because they were stumped by a penny.
This pavilion is said to have been expanded from the previous post house. Neither of them knew the way, so they asked a local firewood seller.
The firewood seller became more energetic when he heard that the two people were asking about Juxian Hall. Not only did he show them the way, he also told them in a serious manner:
"Do you know what happened in the pavilion three years ago?"
Seeing the old man's cold tone, Xu Shu couldn't help but chat:
"What happened?"
Then I saw the old man showing his teeth and claws:
"Three years ago, General Chongtian of Taiping Dao killed the people of Junsi here until rivers of blood flowed out. At that time, it was said that the blood on the streets was not drained for three days and three nights the next day. And that was the killing. , all of them were killed by General Chongtian alone. It was because there was so much killing that no one wanted to stay there, so it was used by the new Prime Minister as the Juxian Pavilion.”
After listening to the old man's narration, Xu Shu and Shi Tao looked at each other, as if they were listening to a story told by an old man under the big locust tree.
Since the two of them entered Dongping Mausoleum, they have been listening to such stories from various people.
There were even a few good people who led the two foreigners to the east city gate, and then pointed out two potholes on the city wall to Xu Shu and Shi Tao, and said proudly:
"Did you see it? Those are the fingerprints left by General Chongtian. I saw with my own eyes that night that General Chongtian climbed over the city wall with his hands on it. This is Chongtian, do you understand?"
At that time, Xu Shu and Shi Tao already felt like they were listening to a myth. Then they saw another wave of foreigners being attracted by the locals from Dongpingling. The two of them thought that this was the poor Qingzhou people who were exaggerating.
Who are you lying to? We Yingchuan people are so smart, how can we be deceived by you Dongyi earth hammers?
But what the two of them didn't know was that after Cao Cao entered the city from Dongpingling and West City with three thousand troops that day, he walked through the city specifically to look at this fingerprint.
At that time, Xia Houchun saw that this kind of thing had gained people's prestige for nothing, so he wanted to have it erased. But Cao Cao stopped him.
Even the three arrows that Zhang Chong shot under the Junguo Temple before breaking through Dongpingling were preserved by Cao Cao.
Its meaning is unknown.
Xu Shu and Shi Tao listened to the old man's story for a while, and then walked to the Juxian Pavilion under the guidance of the old man.
But when there was still some way to the Juxian Pavilion, the old man was unwilling to leave.
Xu Shu asked the old man why?
The old man said complexly:
"Of course I know what this Gathering Hall is for. When you two go there, you will definitely vote for those who demolished the temple. Then you people will still go to fight the Yellow Turban soldiers. Alas, the world has changed now. If the Taishan Army and Taiping Road were still there, I wouldn’t have brought you here even if I beat the old man to death.”
Xu Shu was surprised now and asked:
"Old man, aren't these Taishan bandits, Taiping Dao, and Yellow Turban soldiers the same thing? What's the difference?"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the old man directly sprayed Xu Shu:
"What are thieves? What if the Taishan Army were thieves? Are there any good people in the world? Of course they are different. In the past, the best to us poor people was the Taishan Army. When they were there, who was the leader of this place? Dare to bully us? If you bully us during the day, the wall of the dock will be broken by the Taishan Army’s field guards at night.”
The old man seemed to be reminiscing about the past, and then sighed:
"Then we, the Taiping Dao, also made decisions for us, but there were also those who bullied us and insisted on asking us to pay for the education. But then the Taishan Army left, and the Taiping Dao also left, leaving the Yellow Turban Soldiers. Those people , it’s really bad. It’s also because we are poor people, but we are united with those powerful people to bully us. So if you go to demolish the temple, I have no objection, but I will show you the way. ”
At this time, Shi Tao asked:
"Old man, is it Cao Cao, the Prime Minister of Jinan, who demolishes the temple?"
Seeing this man address Cao Cao directly, the old man glanced at Shi Tao and said with a smile:
"That's him. He can be regarded as a half-good man. Although he is worse than the Taishan Army, he is much better than other officials. Our Jinan is suffering, and the suffering is especially severe in this ancestral hall. Each wizard takes turns to come to you. The family asks you to pay for worshiping ghosts and gods. It is really about peeling off the skin and extracting the marrow. It turns out that the Taishan Army is in the east of Jinan, and the Taiping Road is in the city and the countryside, so these wizards can't do anything. Once these two sides leave, we Jinan people. It’s a disaster.”
At this point, the old man became more complicated:
"Later, last year, the households who demolished the ancestral halls brought troops to Dongping Mausoleum. Within a few days, they began to demolish those ancestral halls. Except for those with good reputations, all other ancestral halls were demolished. Even some wizards who had great complaints from the public were condemned to death. . After that, we asked him to demolish the temple.”
Shi Tao remained silent, but Xu Shu asked about other things:
"Do you think there are still those Yellow Turban soldiers left behind in the city?"
At this time, the old man realized that he was afraid. He looked around quickly and saw no one, so he whispered:
"Don't tell anyone. These Yellow Turban Soldiers are actually some rangers who collude with the Yellow Turban Soldiers in Qi State and specialize in oppressing us. If you encounter those with swords, stay away. Don't It seems that you want to join the demolition of the temple, but if you offend these people, no one can save you. Didn't you see that one of the men of the demolition of the temple was drinking outside and offended these people, and was directly hacked to death by these people. What next? What about demolishing the temple? Don’t dare to let anything go.”
Hearing this, Shi Tao already understood that this old man's knowledge was just common knowledge. He usually picked up rumors and talked about them casually.
So how could Cao Cao ban alcohol just because one of his subordinates drank and caused trouble? Shi Tao Qianqian guessed that Cao Cao was hoarding food before cracking down on the wine industry.
Seeing that he had been delayed here for so long, Shi Tao was about to drag Xu Shu away.
But at this time, Xu Shu asked the last question, which was also the question in his mind:
"Old man, are all the Taishan troops really good people?"
The old man said categorically:
"Yes, they are the best people I have ever seen. Although they have left now, I believe they will come again. By then, our grandson will have grown up, and we must let him join the Taishan Army. In this way, our family Never be bullied again”
So Xu Shu fell silent.
He didn't know why the old man was so relieved. It was clear that the two of them wanted to defect to Cao Cao, and the Taishan bandits were iron rebels. Isn't he afraid that the two of them will be high-density and then arrest this old man?
Xu Shu didn't know at this time that the heart of one person is the heart of thousands of people. As the old man thought, how could he be the only one? If we really want to catch him, will we be able to catch him completely?
In the end, Xu Shu was pulled away by Shi Tao. They came to the well in front of the Juxian Pavilion. They first shook the water up and cleaned it briefly, and then found a set of clean clothes from the baggage.
Both of them are from poor single families with a certain foundation. They are not as good as their predecessors, but they are much better than those mud-legged people.
After simply tidying up and putting on new clothes, the two of them were ready to post.
Just as Xu Shu was walking towards Juxian Pavilion with the invitations from himself and Shi Tao, Shi Tao grabbed him.
Shi Tao said seriously:
"How about we go and join the Taishan Army."
When Xu Shu heard such abrupt words, the two bamboo talismans in his hands fell to the ground in shock.